Sunday, 22 May 2011

Photographs by Paul Trevor

13 May to 25 September 2011

This exhibition of photographs taken during the 1970's of working class estates in the poorer areas of liverpool, demonstrates how significanty things can change over a relatively short period of time. Despite the impoverished conditions, the families and people living within the area seemed to be having a happy and content life. Families are seen to live together in apparent harmony, with a strong community spirit. The photos are captured honestly, documenting a moment in time that was not staged nor posed. Whether or not this was an accurate depiction of the general mood of the people living within this era is unknown, but the photos ultimately illustrate that happyness is found in relationships, not necessarily in the aquisition of material goods that modern times suggest will make us happy.

"In 1975 Paul Trevor came to Liverpool to document inner city deprivation for the 'Survival Programmes' project. His remarkable photographs tell a different story however. Their backdrop may be the dereliction of post-war Liverpool. But these images go beyond this bleak cityscape and get close to his real subject: families and children.

Paul's direct and honest street photography shows life as it was lived in a community defiant in the face of poverty, unemployment and the state of their surroundings. He depicts a place where the streets and wastelands became playgrounds, the family was a constant, and where children seem fun-loving and free.

Paul returned to the same Liverpool communities in the summer of 2010. After a lively reunion with local residents, one said: